No watchdog bias found after anti-Tory tweets row

Sinead Cook had posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter

No political bias was found at a major Welsh watchdog which saw an investigator quit over her online anti-Tory abuse, a review has found.

The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW), which investigates if councillors have broken the code of conduct, ordered the probe after it emerged employee Sinead Cook had posted anti-Tory abuse online.

The report looked at more than 600 cases which had been dismissed by the Ombudsman and said the decisions were based on facts and evidence.

The watchdog accepted the report, which recommended the PSOW reconsider its social media policies.

Staff at the PSOW, which is led by the Ombudsman Michelle Morris, said they were shocked and disappointed when the messages came to light.

Conservatives expressed concerns about the PSOW's impartiality in light of the messages on X, formerly known as Twitter, by Ms Cook, the former manager for the team responsible for looking at councillors.

The investigation, led by standards commissioner for Northern Ireland Melissa McCullough, also had a difficult start.

The original official picked to run the probe was removed after Conservatives complained about his links to the Labour Party.

Some staff who work on code of conduct cases told the investigation they were "devastated" when they heard of the incident.

Another added: "It's a shame, because I have no doubt that the work that everybody puts in is completely impartial and is of a really good standard, so I just think it's unfortunate that it's being called into question because of the actions of one individual."

The team told the investigation they "had never had a discussion" with Ms Cook, or anyone else in the office, about politics.

The investigation found no evidence that the former team leader had inappropriately influenced other staff members.

Ms Cook, who was also interviewed, said she was "heartbroken" that anything she could have done could have damaged the office's reputation.

Ms McCullough and her team looked at 673 code of conduct cases that had been dismissed and found "all decision-making was based solely on evidence, facts and solid, well-articulated reasoning".

"As such, there was no evidence of political bias," it added.

The report did not cross-reference the cases with the political affiliation of the councillor involved.

It said this was because of the lack of evidence that any decisions were made on the basis of anything other than the facts.

Eleven discontinued cases investigated by Ms Cook were also reviewed and the report came to the same conclusion.

However, it recommended the PSOW should change its policies so councillors are told about complaints when they are received, rather than after they are assessed.

This would be in the "interests of fairness and transparency" and protect the PSOW from criticism when a councillor learns of a complaint from a third party or the media.

It also said the PSOW's code of conduct "could be more comprehensive" in setting out the circumstances where social media activity by an employee amounts to misconduct.

The PSOW said it accepted all the recommendations and the lessons learned "will be used to further strengthen internal policies and practices, recruitment, and training".